Cypress-Fairbanks ISD broke the record for the most swimmers in a single relay in under an hour. Two hundred and eighty-eight swimmers participated in breaking the record even though only 282 were needed to break the previous record of 281 swimmers.

Morgan Burcham, the head coach of the Cypress Lakes swim team, was the idea maker behind this big event. Burcham has been wanting to break this specific record for a while now, this being their third attempt at breaking it. 

“I contacted all of the CFISD swim coaches,” Burcham said. “We each brought people from our schools to participate.”

The swim coaches informed their teams about the idea and gave them the chance to choose whether or not they wanted to participate. Swimmers were strongly encouraged to partake in the relay as this would be a big feat for the district and their school. 

“They were worried they weren’t going to have enough people,” Mario Marquez (12), a member of the Cypress Falls swim team, said. “The record was like 277 and we only had 260 at first.”

 For a while, they didn’t have enough swimmers in order to break the record so the coaches at the various CFISD high schools had to keep encouraging their team members to join.

“I was pretty confident we would break it, but people kept telling me that we weren’t going to break the record,” Marquez said. 

Not only did current swimmers join in on the fun, but coaches also got a chance to swim too. It was the first time in a while that the coaches got to actually get in the water at a swimming event instead of standing on the side watching.

 “They were pretty ecstatic too, a lot of them actually participated in swimming too and I think that was also a fun experience for them,” Katelyn Hawe (11), a swimmer for Cy Falls, said. 

For the first time in a long time, the swimmers got to see their coaches in action. The coaches got to share the fun with their team.

 “The event was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Burcham said. “Having the opportunity for coaches to swim alongside their athletes and break a world record is an awesome feeling.”